I am full-time father of two little boys. I teach in Temple University's Intellectual Heritage Department. I write regularly for Forbes, Mindshift KQED, HuffPo, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. I speak internationally about edTech, game based learning, and 21st Century parenting. I hold a PhD in Depth Psychology, specializing in Jungian/archetypal psychology and phenomenology/Heideggerian philosophy. In particular, I study the ways video games (and other new forms of interactive storytelling) teach us to make sense of the world. My most recent book is: "FREEPLAY: A Video Game Guide to Maximum Euphoric Bliss." Email: jordosh@jordo.tv

National Study: Mobile Devices Are Changing Parenting, Childhood, And Family Values

A national study from the Center on Media and Human Development Northwestern University sheds light on the ways digital technologies have changed parenting practices in the United States. I read through the study, wondering how my parenting strategies measure up to the average.

The week my oldest son was born, I took off from work so I could bounce him on my knee while listening to the full catalog of Beatles records. Sometimes he was strapped to my chest, stereo blasting, as I danced around the living room singing my way from “Meet The Beatles” through “Let It Be.” I was sure this would condition him to grow up with better taste in music.

Inadvertently, I was practicing what researchers now call “joint media engagement,” or “the new coviewing.” I was not only familiarizing him with John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but also providing an embodied introduction to rhythm, art, dancing and simultaneously offering many other more subtle lessons around socialization and language.

When I needed to get work done between diaper changes, singing, and story time, I plopped my son into the “ExerSaucer,” which I lovingly dubbed “TV for toddlers.” The rattles, loops, rings, and textures would keep him distracted for hours. Even if Amazon categorizes them under “Learning and Exploration” and titles them with the euphemism “Early Development Activity Centers,” their biggest appeal is and has always been the peaceful respite they provide parents.

The new study from The Center on Media and Human Development Northwestern University looks at the ways digital technologies have changed parenting practices. What part do interactive and mobile technologies play in 21st century parenting? And has the iPad become the new ExerSaucer?

Turns out, things are not as bleak as we commonly assume.

Alexis R. Lauricella, one of the study’s authors, wrote in a Joan Ganz Cooney Center blog post,:

In contrast to the popular press image that mobile technology is the new pacifier used to calm and quiet down children, our survey shows that parents today have a range of tools at their disposal and other tools are used more often than mobile technologies. Parents are more likely to use toys or activities (88%), books (79%), and TV (78%) when they need to keep children occupied than mobile media devices like smartphones or iPads (37% among those who have one).

Apparently, my house is not average.

Although I fear an onslaught of judgement from elitist parents, I’ll be honest here. I’m among the parents (29% according to the study) who think mobile phones and touchscreen devices have made parenting easier. As my children have aged, walkers, bouncy seats, and jolly jumpers have all been replaced by an iPad, a Nook HD+, a Chromebook, and a Windows 8 Laptop that’s used almost exclusively for Minecraft, Gamestar Mechanic, and Kodu.

I guess I can take solace in the fact that my kids (5 and 8 years old) hardly watch television. In contrast, 78% of parents surveyed use the television “to keep children occupied.” And, like 79% of parents, I also rely heavily on books. My boys love books, especially graphic novels, spending just as much time with books as with interactive content (yes, half the time they are eBooks).

As an edTech blogger I have access to a lot more technology, software, and gadgets than the average dad. The study shows that while seven out of ten households have a mobile phone, only 42% have a tablet device. We have multiple tablet devices, iOS and Android. In fact, we always have review units, software downloads, and new gadgets to evaluate.

Mostly, we do the reviewing together, discussing the pros and cons of each item. I ask them what they think I should write about each and turn the conversation into an opportunity to teach them about the biased procedural rhetoric embedded in seemingly objective technologies. Often these conversations are difficult. My boys are easily seduced by art and sound design and have little sense that what’s exciting today will be boring by week’s end. Of course, this is one of the promises of joint media engagement, that digital content becomes a kind of text for teaching and thinking rather than just an authoritative voice. The way we swipe the ipad together makes us similar to “about three in ten parents,” who engage in media “along with the child ‘all or most’ of the time.

Clearly, I have much more faith in media and technology as an educational tool than the average family. Perhaps it is because we’re privileged to have the opportunity to experiment with the best of the best. Two-thirds of parents “say they are very likely to point their child toward a book when looking for an educational opportunity and 41% to a toy or activity, compared to 15% who say the same about using the computer, 12% for TV, and 10% for a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet.”

I’ve seen first hand how much better engagement and retention is with software like Dragonbox or ST Math as opposed to a comparable workbook or a puzzle. However, I’m not such a huge believer in discipline specific learning to begin with and, therefore, I believe they learn a lot more about science, physics, ecology, and even metaphor, philosophy, and aesthetics from going outside with their dad and digging for worms in the yard.

Finally, I’m a little shocked by all sides of the results about what parents use to calm upset children: 65% use toys or activities, 58% books, 40% television and only 17% use mobile devices. In our house, we just use hugs.

A few other interesting findings:

Sibling rivalry and parental bouts: 78% of parents “disagree with the statement ‘negotiating media use causes conflict in our home.’” And most spouses (83%) agree with each other around questions of parenting with media.

The income gap: 65% of high-income households ($100,000+ per year) own tablets, only 19% of low-income (less than $25,000). Smartphones: 80% (high-income), 61% (low-income).

There’s still a video game stigma: “more parents rate video games as having a negative effect on children’s reading, math, speaking skills, attention span, creativity, social skills, behavior, physical activity, and sleep than any other activity.”

Weaning from the new coviewing: joint media engagement among parents and their children decreases substantially above the age of six.

Like parent, like child: the amount of media consumed by the parents is directly correlative to the amount media consumed by the children. 23% of “media-centric parents,” (who spend 11 hours per day, on average, engaged with TV, computer, smartphones, and video games) use media as a way to connect with their children.

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